Mercatoris Pair Journal

Cool photos! Thanks for sharing D! I hope Mr. Boots and Hugsy (my octos) will be as interactive.

I came back to the office at around 11:30pm to put some fiddler crabs in the tank to see if I can coax them out and make them feel safe.
No luck... they must be hiding in the rocks or up in the sump.
The one that was hiding in the rock in the front of the tank has moved somewhere else.

Time to drive home... good night!
 
sounds cool :smile:

just dont worry if you dont see them for a while - dont stip the tank down to check for them!

good luck
C
 
I've been monitoring my webcam today from home and I noticed a lack of activity from the Fiddlers. They are usually very cam friendly and like to climb around the back of the tank. With the octos still in hiding the 4 silly fiddlers had become scene stealers with my officemates.

I cannot see any of the crabs today. I have a feeling that the octos must have come out to eat last night. I have no way to confirm till I get back in the office but this seems to be an indication that they are finally feeling comfortable enough to roam and hunt.
 
You might want to lower the camera a little so that you can see the bottom substrate horizon. Most of mine (not all) have chosen dens close to the aquarium floor.

Hopefully, you will find empty crab carapaces. Do note, however, that the fiddlers should be kept in an environment where they can come fully out of the water (any kind of rock - real or artificial - will do). They are short lived when fully submerged at all times. I have had some to live as long as two weeks but usually they die in about a week if they cannot come to surface regularly. Although I keep feeder supply in small tanks with lava rock for ease of maintenance, others have had long term success with a damp sand bed and swimming pool.
 
Ooh! That is a cool shirt!

I came by the office to check on the crabs and I did find two hollowed out carapaces. I also found one of them still alive and hiding behind a rock. I still have one crab unaccounted for. He may have climbed into the sump to come out of the water. I will check again on Monday.

Thanks for the advice D! I will set up a separate feeder tank to store my crabs to make sure they live longer. Are ghost shrimp a good alternative? They are cheaper and will probably live longer in the tank. I'm just unsure if they will provide the same nutritional benefits.

I'll adjust the camera to focus more on the substrate... I will also set it up to switch to red LED lighting a little earlier so I have more opportunities to see them. All the tank lights and the powerhead currently turn off at around 730pm. I think I'll try moving it to 6pm.


cheers,
Dino
 
Empty carapaces are what you want to see :biggrin2:.

It probably won't help to turn on the red lights earlier. The earliest I have been able to get them to come out in a room that has windows is about 10:30 PM. Supposedly they don't see the red light and think it is totally dark but it is not a signal to them that it is now nightime. I have my doubts about its invisibilty, especially LED's. I use both LED and fluorescent and have been able to watch them under both. My doubts come from reactions to an LED flashlight.

Ghost shrimp are up for debate. I use shore shrimp (saltwater variety but very similar). The ghost shrimp are technically freshwater but I have seen credible reports that they are close enough to the saltwater shrimp to be equally nutritional (unlike freshwater feeder fish that are not only improperly balanced in fats but also very likely to be treated with copper). The biggest problem with the shrimp if you are planning on just putting them live in the tank is the difficult for the octos to catch them (also, your octos should be at full salt and I am not sure how well the ghosts survive in that environment - I have never tried them). If you are planning to hand/stick feed then they should be fine as long as you also feed the crabs a couple of times a week.

The crabs will keep for quite awhile (Nancy had some that lived 2 years) in a sand and swimming pool environment (I just don't like the additional maintenance). They should last a month in a small (mine is a 2 gallon) tank with a nano filter and a center island (center island to help keep them inside the tank). If these will also be at the office, you might want a lid of some kind (most anything will do but it must allow air inside - octoproofing not required) to keep them from visiting your work mates. I have a divider in mine so that if one dies and fouls the water, the other side is uneffected (fouled water will kill off the others if you miss the problem for a couple of days). Since your work mates are enjoying the crabs, check out some of the fiddler crab set ups that you can find on-line. You should be able to put together something interesting for very little money (you may already have stuff you can use to create an interesting enviornment). The biggest problem will be having to feed them to the octos if you and your roomies start enjoying the crabs.
 
The biggest problem will be having to feed them to the octos if you and your roomies start enjoying the crabs.
That will indeed be the problem. the short time the crabs were in the tank, people started to enjoy them. They probably would have gotten names had they lived longer.

Thanks for the advice again. I'll start up a small crab tank tomorrow. I think have an old Betta tank I can use.
 
I'm trying a little experiment tonight. I am tying a string around two little crabs and dangling them in the tank in front of the camera's field of view. I will then record the footage all night in hopes of catching the octopus eating them.

Tune in after 7pm for if you want to see me set it up.
 
I tried to string up two crabs but the bigger one was able to squeeze out of his bindings. So now, I only have one crab dangling in front of the camera. It should still work out. Let's hope the octos come out and play.

I also set Ustream to record the stream so I can review it tomorrow.

Dino
 
Despite the failed experiment due to tampering... I still found the carapice of another crab around the same rock in the back of the tank. This leads me to be certain that at least one of the octos is hiding back there.

Is it possible for Mercs to share a den? Or is the other one somewhere else?

I'll try the experiment again tonight.
 

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